Although the Big Ten is reviewing Michigan's win against Penn State, the Nittany Lion football team isn't paying any attention, a team captain said yesterday -- even if the review could technically end Penn State's losing streak to the Wolverines.

"We don't have anything to do with that," wide receiver Terrell Golden said of the Big Ten's review. "We're just playing our season as if we're 0-2 in the conference right now."

Big Ten spokesman Scott Chipman told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review yesterday that forfeiture is a possible punishment for Michigan's admitted offense.

Golden said the forfeit would be a "tough situation to deal with either way," even if it did end Penn State's 11-year drought against Michigan.

Jeff Nelson, a Penn State sports information director, said Big Ten officials contacted Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley yesterday to inform him that Michigan is under review for using freshman Artis Chambers in three of the Wolverines' first four games of the season.

However, Nelson said, the athletic department has no comment on the review. Curley did not return multiple phone calls by press time last night.

Dave Ablauf, a spokesman for the Wolverines, also said the Michigan athletic department has no comment until the Big Ten's review is complete.

"That's in their hands," Ablauf said.

Team officials discovered last week that Chambers, who played against Penn State on Sept. 22, was eligible to play under NCAA guidelines, but ineligible under Big Ten rules.

Bill Martin, Michigan's athletic director, said Chambers won't play for the rest of the 2007 season. Chambers had one assisted tackle in Michigan's game against Penn State in which Penn State lost 14-9.

It's still unclear why Chambers isn't eligible to play. Martin said Chambers, who entered the university in January, violated "mid-semester freshman eligibility rules," but didn't elaborate, citing federal regulations that govern students' privacy.

The NCAA's and Big Ten's rules vary regarding the amount of credits that student-athletes are required to take. The NCAA requires student-athletes to complete six credits "during the preceding regular academic term," according to the association's bylaws. The Big Ten's rules of eligibility mandate that a student-athlete "be enrolled in a minimum full-time program of studies leading to a baccalaureate or equivalent degree."

If, hypothetically, Michigan does have to forfeit, Penn State's Big Ten record would equal Michigan's, while the Lions' overall record would be better than the Wolverine's. Still, sports reporters who vote in the Associated Press poll say it may not effect the national polls.
"I don't think it's a big deal if he's a special teams guy, and he had half a tackle," said John Moredich, a sports writer for the Tucson Citizen.

Herb Gould, a sports writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, agreed.

"I wouldn't all of the sudden say they won the game," Gould said. "It's not like you're talking about a tailback who gained 230 yards."